Category Archives: Living

Night at the beach

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After many nights of restlessness, summerness, and just all around boredom (really?!), we decided to take a quick trip to the beach for dinner. We packed up Daddy’s new go-to grill and some meat and ended up on a perfect flat spot. Doheny/Capo Beach… we will be back for night time din-din’s.

The weird thing is–We go here about every other day. Why not dinner?! I need to think about spots like parks, beaches, pools, etc. that we normally do during the day. Ahhh… next summer there may be a plan in place!








Before Baby Arrives

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Over the past nine months, I’ve had a hard time documenting Baby #4’s arrival. But the one thing I have done (thankfully!) is take pictures. From eating healthy to practicing how to feed baby using an Anna doll from Frozen, to building a crib, to late night snuggles when I couldn’t move around anymore, to coloring pictures for the baby’s room, we have all been excited to welcome our new baby boy to the family!











It’s October!

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Fall is by far my most favorite time of the year. I love baking, carving pumpkins, cooking Thanksgiving dinner, trick-or-treating with our babes, and finding time to go outside when the weather drops below 70 degrees. We recently took a little trip to this big open field not too far from where we live. The kids loved running around, kicking a deflated soccer ball, and climbing up this huge hill that made me freak out. Maybe it’s because MY balance is off since I’m belly-heavy with baby #4. Yes, that’s it.

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No Extra Money

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No problem.

I just paid a huge stack of bills, Mike’s at an interview, and I have to pick up our big guy from the pricey pre-school in a few minutes. So, two months ago, when we got the news that we’d be down to one income, I freaked out. How in the world are we going to survive?

We stuck together and had free (or really cheap) outings with the kids. We’ve explored new parks, like the one below in Laguna Beach, and got sandy at the beach the other day. A $1.99 pack of water balloons has been our best friend too!

We also redid a room for basically nothing to give it new life. The girls love it! And, made friends with Lizzy the Lizard in our backyard who always comes around when the kids are outside.

We read up on blogs, like Money Saving Mom, that offer great coupons and ways to save on just about everything (why am I obsessed with these free eBooks?).

And, we even went out on a date night to a Lakers/Clippers game because we bought the tickets awhile ago and decided to get away for a few hours. Note: Got on the Kiss Cam! (More for my memory than anything.)

I know that very soon this life of freaking out over pennies is almost over but I don’t want the things above to go away because of it. As Blake would say, “You get what you get.”





Twins: 17 Months Old

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For some reason, we don’t see my Dad as much as I thought I would, especially having three kids now. But, the times we do get together are always some of the best.

A week ago, the girls and I drove out to spend some time with him. It was great! We made a mess of his always perfectly clean house. We snacked. We drank unsweetened iced tea (one of my favorite drinks). Well, I did. We talked about how big the girls are now, walking around and saying “uh-oh” a lot. He shared that he thought the girls might be afraid of him–but they weren’t (they might not remember your face, but they remember love). We played with the dogs and laughed when one of the girls wanted a dog toy over one of their own toys scattered across the floor. And knew it was time to leave when both girls were sprawled on the ground staring up at us. We couldn’t stop laughing!

It’s amazing how life can be so surprisingly wonderful. As the twins turn 17 months today, I’m forever grateful for this family of mine. Thanks Grandpa for a fun day!

Cabo San Lucas – Trip Across The Border

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We’ve gone on two vacations this summer without the kiddies (which I think should be mandatory for every parent). The first trip to Oahu was work-related for Mike so I mostly caught up on sleep. I was in a haze for a good week after we got back. And this trip, was a quick getaway to do the exact opposite of the first trip–skip naps and stay up way too late (oh, college days).

First, let me say that I would highly recommend a good all-inclusive when traveling to Mexico. I didn’t feel this way before we left but the hotel did an amazing job. The amount of food we ate would have made it worth it. But, throw in the beer and margaritas!? And the stocked mini-fridge in our room!?

We stayed at the Sandos Finisterra Los Cabos in one of their newly renovated suites (on that cliff) with a huge wraparound balcony and couldn’t have been happier. The service was great. The food was pretty darn good. Fun atmosphere (entertainment group at the hotel made it fun!) and close to town. We will be going back!






It’s a Three Day Weekend with the Kids!

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Happy Memorial Day!

Even after not really having plans we still enjoyed a lot of playing outside in the backyard, going for a walk and memorable bike ride over “The Bridge”, scoring goals at what we thought was Blake’s last soccer game, buying a Bug Vacuum, building an awesome Lego spaceship, enjoying a delicious pizza made on the BBQ, icing a bruised ankle (not really enjoyed!), going to a friend’s Frozen birthday party, oh and a mandatory date night at Morton’s the Steakhouse.

It was busier than I thought!

After a really long day, I’m still so very thankful of this family of ours.






Grand Wailea: Our Maui Trip

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To celebrate an early 10-year anniversary (and me turning the big 3-4), we decided to fly over the Pacific to one of our favorite spots–Maui. Since hub works with a lot of people who live in Hawaii, he asked them where to stay and all of them agreed on the Grand Wailea.

It was breathtaking. After we checked in, we went straight to the pool which has amazing reviews. Pretty kid-friendly with tons of water slides, a rope swing, water falls, lazy river… You get the picture. We skipped all of that and went straight to the adult-only pool (aww..quiet), ordered one too many mai tais, and ended up at the swim up bar with some great people from Louisiana and Arizona.





The next few days we ate YUMMY fried rice for breakfast at Fred’s, went swimming at the Secret beach just south of our hotel (there were really only a few of us there), and ate sushi at Sansei in Kihei (go late for half off sushi and karaoke). The few locals we met were extremely nice and pointed us in the right direction when it came to happy hours and “special” beaches where bathing suits are optional, if we were up for an adventure.

One more post to come of the last part of our trip. Aloha!




Two Girls Get Married

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A few months ago, my sister-in-law got married. It was such a great day with friends and family. The day before the wedding, we drove the “few” hour drive north to Santa Barbara and stopped at the pier. Gloomy at first, but it was amazing by the end.

I’m so excited for these two beautiful friends of mine to be together forever. Their ceremony was one of the most emotional ones I’ve been in-and to-in a long time. I wish nothing but the best for them as they begin their life as a married couple.

Here’s a few pics I took (top two) and a few I stole from the wedding photographer’s blog. If you haven’t noticed, I’m a huge fan of his work!

Congratulations Michelle and April! Such a beautiful day of love and friendship.






Happy 35th Birthday!

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Over the weekend, my hub turned 35. Is it just me or once you hit like 28, time starts flying by way too fast? Mid-30s always seemed so far away.

Anyway, I surprised him with going out to dinner with our friends and then drinks at a local dive bar. It was perfect. The bar even had an 80’s band. His favorite. Saturday morning was spent opening presents, dunking yummy sugar cookies into our coffee, and playing with the kids. Saturday afternoon we took off to our favorite beach. Sunday, his parents threw all of us Fall birthdays a special party. Three cakes later, we ended the weekend totally exhausted and completely not ready for the week ahead.

I hope you had a great birthday weekend, Bob. I have so much fun with you! xoxo